Lips Like Morphine
by Fyndabhair
Summary: Business had been slow until a strange woman showed up with a deal he couldn't resist. Multiple small shout outs to Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett throughout. You've been warned.
1. Chapter 1

The smell of rotting blood and filth was thick in the air, deep in the darkness of the alley a lighter flared, pale yellow light flashing on china pale skin.

Drawing towards the dumpster, the figure swam into focus and I got a good look at her. She was well worth the stare. She was trouble. Long black hair parted down the middle with eyes that leeched darkness from the surroundings. Her mouth was small and kittenish, a pale bloom of colour amidst the monochrome white and black. Her dress was short and severe against her dead pale skin, and it rode up where she'd sat on the dumpster, exposing slim shapely legs encased in small black boots. Silver smoke ribboned up towards the smog filled heavens from the cigarette dangling from one corner of that small mouth. Not a bad looking kid if you chose to ignore the hardness in those black eyes or the serious set of that cute little mouth.

She stared at me from her perch and I damn well stared back, met those hard eyes and let her get what she would from a lazy grin. Shoving my hands deep in the pockets of my overcoat, I waited the kid out. Everyone in the city, provided they were the right kind of everyone knew where to find me, so it wasn't a shock to see the kid there like she'd been waiting since before the sky went black. Silence stretched out between us, unraveled like the smoke curling out from the cigarette she clasped between two long thin fingers.

"I hear business has been slow, with GeneCo under new management." Her voice was light, airy despite the heavy atmosphere. With that first observation out of the way, she took another draw from her cigarette and watched the smoke drift.

"Won't say it hasn't been a bit more relaxed." The kid was watching me now, and I was watching her legs cross and uncross, letting her unwind her spiel.

"Look. I'll cut the bull. I have something you want." Tired with a trace of frustration in her tone. She'd had a lot of time to figure how this encounter would go and I was betting she hadn't figured I wouldn't jump at whatever she was dangling in front of me.

"I'll say." I grinned up at her, watched her eyes grow hot as she sucked fiercely on the remains of her cigarette.

"Fine. I have a couple things you want. One of them is money." She paused, flicked the butt to the ground delicately and licked her lips. "The other? Not on offer."

I pulled a face and she flushed, pulled a pack of cigarettes out from under her garter and stuck one between her lips.

"I happen to know where you could get some more zydrate." The lighter flashed again, her skin temporarily sallow from the light. "Enough to supplement what you've got, maybe win you back some customers."

I raised an eyebrow, said nothing. It was a tempting deal, and I couldn't help but look for the razor in the apple.

"You in or what?" Her voice frayed at the edges and it clicked, somewhat. She had the product, but no way to move it and I figured she didn't have a way to get at it either. How I got mixed in, well she needed someone to trust and I'd saved her ass a few times. As for how she stood to profit from any of this, either she had another angle or she was relying on a noble side I don't quite have.

"What's in it for you, kid?" Watching her face flutter through emotions was entertaining, and telling. That hardness went pretty damn deep but she was still a kid, underneath it all.

She settled on a slight knowing look, infuriatingly blank and I shrugged. It was a screwy deal, and the girl was more twisted than a corkscrew but I needed the cash. Not that she needed to know that. Besides, if you get fucked over by a little girl, you deserve the shit you get.

"Fine, c'mon kid. Let's celebrate." She stared at me a long moment, some of the heat still in her eyes and held out her hand imperiously. Bowing, imagining how the kid managed to get up there in the first place, I hauled on her arm and she clattered off the dumpster to stumble into me. She glared up at me through the tangle of her hair, straightened her skirt (giving me a glimpse of those long slim legs meanwhile) and strode off down the alley ahead of me. 


	2. Chapter 2

~~~~~~~2~~~~~~~

The nearest bar was a rundown joint, all faded upholstery and tarnished gilt. Despite that they had the best drinks in the area and a very understanding staff who stuck us in the darkest corner they had and sat two glasses of whiskey in front of us. The kid grimaced after drinking to our new business deal.

"You're laughing at me."

"Certainly not WITH you." I braced my elbows on the table, one eye on the door, the other on the kid. She was letting her cigarette burn out in the ashtray, tentatively taking another sip of her whiskey.

She'd barely drunk anything, but already the booze was giving her translucent skin a pretty flush. It was easy enough to coax her into finishing her drink- the kid had a strong hatred of being taken as soft- and starting a fresh one. My eyes followed the red glow of her cigarette, clasped between washed out pink lips, mouth turned up at the corner. That secretive little smile burned me, and I settled back as the unobtrusive waiter dropped another glass in front of me.

"Not a companionable little thing, are ya, kid?" Glaring at her over the rim of my glass, I watched her face.

"Depends on the company." Those glittering black eyes of hers were warmer, the whiskey was going down easier and that knowing smile of hers softened.

"Cute."

"Getting cuter by the second."

I couldn't deny that, especially once the alcohol gave her a bit more of a spark. A playful smile hovered above rosy lips, a bright blush lit her cheeks and her eyes shone. Still no reason to trust the girl and no clue as to her angle or the deal. It was sour somehow, more fucked up than the girl sitting across from me.

"Not bad, kid. Where've you been since the Opera?" That gap in my knowledge was one I didn't mind sharing- it was common knowledge that the kid had vanished and no one, including myself, knew what happened to her.

She stared at me, glass halfway to her mouth. Dark eyes flicked down my face then back to the amber liquid in her glass. The kid smirked, quipped "Around." with a little bitterness, and downed what was left of her drink.

Somewhere between my third and her fourth, I got an idea.

"Alright kid, c'mon." Pushing away from the table I offered her my hand. She let me lace her arm through mine and lead her outside again, down the ill lit streets.

"You mind telling me where we're headed?" The airy voice had a smoky edge now, whiskey and cigarettes mingling.

I grinned wolfishly and patted her little hand.

"Not at all, darlin'."

"Well?"

"Said I didn't mind, not that I'd tell you, kid."

"Miss Wallace, at least, since it seems you can't manage Shilo."

"Well Miss Wallace, this way." Guiding her up the stairs, skirting the crumpled newspapers and other muck, I opened the door to an apartment. Not mine, but close enough- any empty apartment is fair game in this city. I think she liked it, leaning against the wall as I broke in, slipping into the apartment as if imagining anyone watched us, or cared, if they did.

She sank gratefully if not quite gracefully into a cushioned chair and looked up at me, slight wariness back in her eyes underneath all the alcohol. Now that it was just us, and the darnkess of some dead bastard's apartment, she was trying to slide back into that hard eyed look and not quite succeeding. 


	3. Chapter 3

~~~~3~~~~

Deciding against the couch, which looked like it had seen and been the stage for better days, I affected a slight list to my walk and sat down heavily at her side, sprawling in what little space I had.

"Do you mind?" Playful displeasure tainted her voice and touched her features.

"Can't say I do...aw that's no fair, kid." She'd said the words with me, and I scowled.

"So stop being so predictable." This time she grinned back at me, and wriggled to let me have a little more space. All it really did was hike her dress up a bit higher, exposing the trim of one stocking and a bit of a garter strap. She didn't seem to notice, so I took it upon myself to be the gentleman, and tugged the hem down to something near respectable.

Her blush deepened even as she swatted my arm, black eyes glowing hotly. Once again a little hand slipped the crumpled pack of cigarettes out from under a garter. The sudden flash of light dusted her face with gold and onyx. Leaning over her, I plucked the cigarette from her lips and stuck it between my own, smiling nonchalantly as she glared up at me.

"You know, people usually use their manners and ask."

"Yeah, my manners are shit. I grieve over them on cold lonely nights."

Blowing smoke rings towards the ceiling, I felt her twitch beside me, one hand on my knee as she leaned forward to watch the ring wobble and dissolve.

"How...could you show me?" She jerked her head to where the last smoke ring was unfurling and licked her lips again, fingers fumbling to light the cigarette that hung precariously from her mouth.

Taking the lighter from her fingers, I lit her cigarette and leaned back.

"Well Miss Wallace, like they say: just put your lips together and blow." Another smoke ring swirled above us, she narrowed her eyes at me in disbelief. "Well its a little more complex than that, but not much, kid."

Her efforts, which mostly resulted in great puffs of smoke blown in my face, and at the helpless ceiling fan, eventually produced one small ring that spiraled up and up.

"I did it!" She sat back, smiling like a cat that's got the canary, and turned a radiant smile at me. "Thanks."

"Well now, do I get a reward for a job well done?" "The satisfaction of making someone happy?" She rolled her eyes as she said it, and tapped a finger thoughtfully against her mouth. I smirked, and she pressed a soft kiss to the corner of my mouth, eyes on mine as she pulled away.

"I was thinking buy me a drink. Your idea works though."

I leaned in and caught her full on the lips, her cigarette dropped on the coffee table and smouldered, mostly ash now. Letting her go, I slipped my own cigarette back between her lips and grinned.

"I'll owe you for that one."

"Can I open a line of credit?"

Both my eyebrows climbed up my forehead, and I stubbed her cigarette out on the table.

"Just what did you have in mind, kid?"

She smiled up at me with that rosepink mouth, dark excited eyes glittering and pulled her face close, soft lips pressed against mine.

It would have taken a stronger, more sober man than me to resist the warm weight of that girl in his lap, or those lips, the breathy little moans, and even then he'd have had a hell of a time trying. 


	4. Chapter 4

~~~~~4~~~~~

Night had bled into a smoky new day, the only distinction between the two a slight increase in light and warmth. Slowly the apartment ceiling swam into view and I rolled over, rubbing a hand across my eyes. Pulling myself together as best I could, a clatter in the kitchen told me she'd stayed. Behind me, a low laugh rang out and I turned around.

Lounging against the door frame, another cigarette dangling from bruise red lips, she smiled and tugged the hem of the shirt she was wearing- mine- blowing a smoke ring at the ceiling.

"Mornin'."

"There's coffee, if you want it." Turning on her heel she vanished back into the kitchen, and I laughed.

"Damn, kid." Shaking my head I padded after her into the kitchen, pausing to fling her dress out of my way. The girl was a piece of work, no doubt about it.

She'd hopped up on the counter, cigarette in one hand, a cracked mug of coffee by her side. the torn neckline of my shirt gaped on her and she crossed her legs, daintily sipping from her mug.

"It's black, there wasn't much else here."

I shrugged. Coffee was coffee and I wasn't surprised anymore that she knew how to support herself. I had a more up to date idea of her now but that did fuck all for figuring out what was off with her deal. There was still something that just didn't sit right with it.

"You want to know why I need you, right?" She was watching me with those hooded dark eyes and set her mug down.

"Not every day young women lurk on a dumpster to offer me money, kid." I quirked an eyebrow and she laughed again.

"Cute. I found a crypt, a big one. Fell through a sink hole or something and wound up right in it. No one had been there for a while. They'll have strong shit." She smiled. "That's where you come in. I can't get the z, can't sell it either- too risky."

It was pretty much as I'd figured, she didn't know enough or didn't want to risk her own neck. I couldn't blame her for that.

"Great kid. I see how I profit. What's your angle? I do the dirty work and you get paid for it?"

"We split it. 40/60, and I'll even take the smaller cut. I need the cash and so do you."

"You think? When all I need is to bust into an apartment for anything I want?"

She smiled, and this time it was unpleasant, a cruel little line, and sadness in the eyes.

"I know so. A man in your position can't fall into debt, especially these days."

"That so?" I glared at her, pale white legs crossed, clad only in my dingy shirt, the neck exposing the curve of one breast. Not really a kid, not anymore and she knew it. Now I knew it too.

"So you've got me sewn up, kid, what about you?" Crossing the small kitchen, I stood in front of her, leaned in. "What's in it for you?"

Her eyes widened, pupils expanding so the iris was swallowed by blackness.

"Freedom." Coffee and cigarettes, sweat on her skin, tongue darting out to wet her lips. "I want off this damn island. There's not much here I want."

Subtle wasn't her strong suit, was never mine either and its my vanity that makes me think I might be partly to blame for her. There was a shadow behind her actions, and I started to imagine strings attached to our limbs; I just wasn't sure who had whose strings.

She leaned back and stubbed out her cigarette on the blue plastic of a dead man's counter. Her hand was on my shoulder, lily white fingers slipped through my hair and at that moment I couldn't decide if I really believed her or just wanted to. Still, she'd offered money and she was right- I did need the cash. How she knew that was something I wanted to find out.

"How'd you figure that's why I need the money, kid?" This was important, worried me down to the bone. If she knew one thing, she might know more and that made things dangerous. Much as I was starting to like her, I liked myself in one piece more.

"You make money off the z you sell. Like you said you don't pay rent, barely buy food, certainly you aren't blowing it on a specific vice or women. Maybe booze but you don't strike me as the type. No cosmetic surgery, not looking like you. There's only one reason a guy like you would need money." She smirked, eyes dancing as a finger tip traced a line down my chest.

I sucked in a breath, in the quiet of the kitchen we both heard it, and something about her softened. Her mouth twisted up playfully and her finger began tracing idle patterns on my chest. "Either that or I just heard some rumours and saw your scar."

Suspicion prickled in the back of my head, even as her fingers trailed lower.

"So kid, what do you want on this island? Aside from my shirt?"

"Guess." 


	5. Chapter 5

~~~~~5~~~~~

The girl was convincing, alternately jaded and sarcastic, only to show a brief glimpse of the girl I assumed she'd been before the Opera. Later, under the cover of what passed for dark in the city, I followed her down the streets and alleyways towards the south side of the island.

I still couldn't tell if I trusted the kid or not, or if it even really mattered if I trusted her. I'd committed to this to an extent and she, so much as I didn't want to admit it, might have the upper hand on me this time. Unless she had simply been trusting to luck.

"This way, down by that statue there. The woman." She pointed at the statue of a woman in a long flowing gown, dramatically posed on a chair, a resigned expression on her stony face. I'd been here many times early in my career, laughed at that marble face, kissed those frozen lips in joy or flushed with reckless disdain.

Then, she'd seemed forlorn, which was why I'd delighted in playing the fool for her. Now, heavy lidded marble eyes watched as the girl and I made our way towards her, and I felt uneasy.

"Come on then, help me with this, it's heavy!" Shilo was calling, shoving at the base of a fallen headstone. After a few pushes, a hole opened up and she grinned at me, wiping hair from her face, fingers leaving a smudge of dirt across her forehead.

"Not bad, is it? All I had to do was lean on it a bit and it toppled over." She was proud, and I stared down into the bottomless black of the pit yawning hungrily at my feet.

"Not really kid. Pretty damn good, especially for a girl who's never been outside in seventeen years." She looked up sharply, eyes searching my face, brows furrowed in confusion. It was a pretty expression, but then I don't think I ever saw her look ugly. Part of me felt guilty, she looked wounded until her eyes hardened and her mouth mimicked that of the statue behind her.

You going to be a gentleman and go first?"

"Now then Miss Wallace, that wouldn't be good manners. Ladies first, after all." I bowed, and she hesitated, dark eyes and wet lips glimmering in the low light before she bent her head, and scrambled down into the pit, vanishing from sight. The only sign that there was a bottom to the blackness was the thud and grunt as she hit it.

That was the only noise I heard, the silence stretched out until I couldn't help myself.

"Shilo?"

There was silence, the quiet noises of a graveyard. I didn't want to jump, not knowing if she was there beneath me, and I couldn't stand at the lip of that damn hole being useless.

My legs were dangling over the edge when the click of a lighter and the rush of fabric burning startled me almost as much as the thin oval face peering up at me, eyes and cheeks hollow with shadow.

"Shit." I dropped to the ground and looked up at the sky, it seemed even more remote than usual. Shilo giggled and I stared at her coldly until she stopped, moving closer to me so light skipped across our faces.

"Boo?" She offered up meekly, lighting a cigarette for me from the torch- assembled from a femur wrapped in a bundle of crumbling cloth. It was so macabre I couldn't help but smile and take the cigarette from her.

"Come on then."

The air was dank, walls covered in molds and lichens that dripped and oozed, spiderwebs that caught on clothing and in hair. The kid flinched away from the walls, drawing as close to me as she could without literally setting me aflame. Hand against the small of her back, I leaned down, mindful of the torch.

"Not scared, are you kid?"

She glared up at me, challenge glinting in her eyes.

"Sorry, some of us still find dirt and slime repulsive, rather than encourage it."

"Aw, kid you wound me, I think. Besides, you seemed pretty encouraging earlier." Laughing, I stood up and gave her a slight push.

She mumbled something derogatory under her breath, and put a few paces between us, not saying a word to me until we'd been walking in silence for ten minutes.

Stepping over smooth stones and thick wood splinters, she illuminated the chamber, lighting torches suspended from the clammy walls.

The cavern was huge, a forgotten catacomb full of bodies.

"Jackpot?" Back in front of me, mischevious grin split across her face, dark eyes hot and excited.

I took her face between my hands, kissed her thoroughly and grinned myself when she moaned, the sound echoing throughout the chamber.

"We'll see kid." 


	6. Chapter 6

~~~~~6~~~~~

One thing, after a few years robbing graves, you notice small important details. For instance, when no one in a dog eat dog city exploits a place like that catacomb. If people were getting in there to bury the dead, it meant other people could get in and take what they wanted. Which meant more than one entrance, or that something was up.

The kid hovered over my shoulder, anxious about what would happen when the needle didn't glow, I suppose.

It did glow, though. Strong and pure blue.

We both exhaled,her out of relief, me because this meant something I wasn't sure of. When the syringe began glowing it meant the girl was trustworty and I was just being paranoid, or that I was falling deeper into whatever her plan was.

"Well kid, you came through." I grinned over my shoulder, lifted the vial up so it cast a blue pall across our faces.

"You had doubts? I'm hurt." Her lower lip stuck out and I patted her head, throwing her wig askew. "Ass!"

"You love it, kid."

She rolled her eyes at me and bent to examine another corpse. The contrast was interesting, morbid- pale ghost flesh against decay.

"Y'know, interesting thing about corpses is they have a shelf life. Bodies are well preserved these days anyways, but in a place like this? Shoulda been rotting away to nothing, barely any viable z between them all." I pulled the corpse she'd been examining off its shelf. "See, down here these bodies ought to have been in worse condition, and don't tell me people've been taking care of them. In a city like this they'd have been stripped in minutes. Means either this crypt is newer than it looks. No one takes care of the dead these days. S'why we have cleanup crews from GeneCo to do it for us. It pays to recycle."

Crouched beside me, her even stare had hardened, then wavered as I pulled the syringe out again, wickedly sharp needle glowing dully from the torches. She licked her lips, the needle reflecting in the darkness of her eyes.

"Which means, of course, this crypt isn't the only thing that's not what it seems." Her eyes were still transfixed on the glint of the needle, bright pinpoints of light in her dark face. "So Shilo..." Standing, I loomed over her, could see my shaggy silouhette obscure her more delicate one and drew closer to her as she stepped back.

"I...Graverobber I don't...I didn't know, I told you, I found this place by accident! Please, I just want my house, my life...don't you want that? You could stay with me, if you wanted. Think about it. A real house with real people..." Her tiny hand shook against my cheek, shadowed eyes bright as her cheeks burned.

I stared, severely as I could, and took another step, backing her up against the wall.

"I mean, when I leave...it will take a while for the bounty on you to spread from here, won't it?" She was still looking up at me, the perfect picture of hopeful innocence and I nearly recanted, almost asked her to forgive me, nearly accepted her offer.

"Shilo..."

I don't know if I'd have apologized then or kept on trying to figure out what the truth was, but I spoke her name and in her eyes was regret, heavy like a stone. I had my answer then, much as I hated to admit how much the realization cost. I felt slow and stupid, heartsick as well.

The kid had tried to play me and whatever part of her was still that little girl felt bad about that.

She smiled and some small place fractured in me. I'd wanted to trust the kid, she was decent company in more than one way and I suppose I'd have kept believing her if I hadn't seen her eyes.

"Amber...you piss her off. Used and abused her, now she's head of GeneCo...She wanted you brought to her. She offered me enough money to be safe, to move away from here and be comfortable. I wasn't lying to you, I swear it." She was staring at my feet now, her cheeks glistened and she rubbed them angrily. Lifting her head to stare up at me, some of the hardness was back in them.

"So you sold me out to Amber, kid? How long have I got?" Cold lead settled in my gut, in a graveyard above ground or in the alleys, I could've made my escape. Underground, in a place I wasn't familiar with? Even if I managed to hide, all they'd have to do was wait and guard whatever exits there were.

Anger and horror warred together, clashing together in a disgusting mix of emotions. The inevitability of my fate was claustrophobic, adding to the cloying darkness of the catacomb. The bleakness of the chamber echoed in her eyes, no light reflected on them and suddenly they appeared to be bottomless, pits of sucking blackness.

"Not long, a few minutes maybe." Her small white hand tangled in my hair again, cool against the back of my neck. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." I felt soft lips against mine once more, a few tears mixed in with the kiss.

The flutter of her lips against mine set off a riot of sensation. The finality of it, the goodbye kiss from my pretty little Judas. For a moment my whole body felt constricted, as if I'd been trapped in a vise, my breath stopping in my chest as her fingers stroked my face, memorizing it, I suppose.

In the distance, sirens shrieked and I backed away from her, thought about revenge- of stabbing the syringe into her heart or bashing her head against the wall. In the end, I couldn't do it, instead I sat against the wall and watched her smoke and cry, waiting for the first GeneCop to crash through the door.

FIN! 


End file.
